Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) and Solstad Shipping today announced that they have entered into a two year Global Agency Agreement with a two year option. WSS will provide Global Agency Services to Solstad’s 48 vessels worldwide.

“We were previously using around 50 different agencies across the world, which was a complex task within itself. Dealing with several different agents can be time-consuming and unpredictable due to varying performances from port to port, ” says Malcolm Rosie, Technical Director, Solstad Shipping.

“Having one point of contact and the same documentation and invoicing structure wherever we are in the world allows us to work in a simple and structured manner, while keeping full cost control over our global fleet. Having a partner such as WSS, with an extensive global network and experience within the Offshore industry will allow us to take advantage of consistently high-quality services, regardless of where we do business.”

“We offer our customers a predictable and structured way of managing multiple port calls, which simplifies their workload whilst at the same time reducing operational and administrative costs. We appoint a Global Agent with a thorough understanding of the customer’s operations to coordinate all port calls globally. This agent is located in the customer’s own time-zone, speaks the local language and acts first as point of contact for all port calls handled by WSS.”

Hassle-free port calls
WSS’s Global Agency Agreement aims to streamline and simplify multiple port call operations for the customer by predefining requirements and appointing a Global Agent to follow up on the account. The customer receives the same level of service and documentation anywhere in the world, saving time and resources on avoiding complex administration and varying service levels. WSS handles 70, 000 port calls every year in 2, 200 ports in 125 countries.

About Solstad Shipping AS
Solstad Offshore ASA is among the largest offshore-shipping companies in Norway, providing advanced vessels and extensive maritime competence for operations related to the offshore petroleum industry. The company has about 1, 800 employees and operates 47 vessels all over the world. In addition the company has 1 large subsea vessel under construction. Solstad Offshore is headquartered in Skudeneshavn, Norway and has branch offices in Brazil, Singapore, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Australia.